ILWS and Data Services

D. G. Sibeck, Aaron Roberts

NASA/GSFC

Ray Walker

UCLA

Topics for This Discussion

• Motivation

• Why is this an ILWS topic?

• What do Researchers Need?

• Obstacles

• Solutions

• Action items

Motivation

• Progress in space plasma physics frequently requires the correlative study of data sets from multiple instruments, spacecraft, simulations, and agencies.

• End-to-end analyses- the type of study fostered by ILWS- invariably require such correlative studies

Why is this an ILWS Topic?

• ILWS-type research requires observations and model output from multiple international sources.

• Coordination can save time, effort, money, reveal simple solutions.

• ILWS can commission a task group to look into the subject, get the broad view, and coordinate.

• Benefits future missions/collaborations.

What do Researchers Need?

• 1. Tools to search for and retrieve data.

• 2. Services that enable surveys and data set comparisons (plotting and browsing).

• 3. Tools that translate data formats and transform coordinates.

• 4. Tools that enable model-data comparisons

Obstacles• Primarily a lack of coordination

– multitude of incompatible efforts and data sets in a wide variety of locations, data systems, and formats

• Recognition that altruism is the best policy

• Funding focused on missions, rather than end-to-end studies

• Top-down, rather than bottom-up, approach to providing services– Can result in services that are not user friendly, comprehensive,

extendible, timely.

Proposed Solutions

• 1. eGY

• 2. Virtual Observatories

• 3. SPASE

eGY is an initiative of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics

led by the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy

eGY Executive Director: Dan Baker

sponsored by: LASP, NASA, IUGG, IAGA

Role

Facilitate, inform, stimulate, encourage, and promote:

– Modern data access and services (“e-Science for Geoscience”)– Responsible data stewardship– Cooperation among bodies/initiatives to reduce duplication and proliferation

of standards, and share expertise

– Establishment of virtual observatories throughout the geosciences– Establishment of criteria to determine optimal and minimum funding for data

activities supporting research

eGY also serves to provide a link between programs with related data and information requirements - IPY, IHY, Planet Earth, and initiatives such as GEOSS.

eGY will be launched July 7 Perrugia IUGG Congress

2. Virtual Observatories

A Virtual Observatory (VO) is a service that unites distributed data repositories and service providers to allow users to uniformly find, access and use resources (data, software, documents, images and services).

A VO requires data set/tool registration, description, and query tools

Some National Efforts

• CDPP France Interball, DEMETER, Cluster, GEOS, Viking..

• NGDC/SPIDR NOAA/SC, ground observations

• DARTS Japan Geotail

• NSSDC/SPDF Heliospheric, L1, magnetospheric services

• Mission level services Cluster, Yohkoh, ACE, TIMED…

A Virtual Observatory Connects Distributed Resources

VxO

VxOResidentArchive

IndividualResearcher

Early Heliophysics VOs (starting ~2001)• VSO (Virtual Solar Observatory; http://virtualsolar.org)

– Delivers solar physics images, spectra, etc. as FITS files or thumbnails; covers most solar physics products

– Recently added browse movies, searching by event lists, a shopping cart, and other features

• VSPO (Virtual Space Physics Observatory; http://vspo.gsfc.nasa.gov)– Access a wide variety of space and solar physics products, including links

to other Virtual Observatories and data from over 100 observatories/spacecraft

• EGSO (European Grid of Solar Observations; to become “HELIO”; EU/ESA)– Emphasizes catalogued events and features to constrain searches– Was solar initially, but now expanding to all of HP

Newer NASA HP VxOs

• VHO (Heliosphere; GSFC)– Has a prototype that delivers some data and allows multiple query

types; working on data descriptions, and collaborating with VMO-G to enhance middleware.

• VITMO (Ionosphere, Thermosphere, Mesosphere; APL)– Existing prototype delivers data based on parameter- and event-

based searches; will incorporate a coincidence tool to aid searches.

• VMO (Magnetosphere; GSFC and UCLA)– Developing many SPASE descriptions as well as useful registry

tools and middleware.

• ViRBO (Radiation Belts; GMU)– Currently ingesting datasets and developing data descriptions and

a web portal; planning a strong connection to models

Some Related Heliophysics VOs• GAIA (Global Auroral Imaging and Access; Canada)

– Integrates all-sky camera data from around the world; serves increasing amounts and variety of ground-based HP data

• VSTO (Virtual Solar-Terrestrial Observatory; NSF/NCAR)– Portal for CEDAR (ground-based) data; also MLSO (solar); broad charter.

– Based on ontologies and related tools.

• STARS (Solar-Terrestrial data Analysis and Reference System; Japan)– Builds on the DARTS system; currently PC (Windows) based.

See: http://hpde.gsfc.nasa.gov for more documents, links, and details.

3. SPACE: Metadata and Data Models

• Uniform access requires uniform metadata description: i.e. a “data model” or “ontology”

• Metadata about the data, written in a uniform language (e.g., “SPASE”) is essential

• SPASE is providing the data model for NASA HP VOs; translators may be needed for interoperability

• See http://www.spase-group.org

Ongoing Efforts

• 1. eGY --> advocating good citizenship

• 2. VxOs --> components of a comprehensive system

• 3. SPASE --> the words we need to describe data sets and services

• A good start

ILWS Action Items

• Endorse eGY efforts (costs nothing and will encourage these enthusiasts/advocates).

• Endorse open and rapid data sharing policy

• Consider providing incentives for researchers to share data

• Commission a task group to:– Survey what is and what isn’t available, recommend solutions

– Describe utility of existing services

– Identify potential partnerships and existing resources

– Communicate ongoing activities, solutions, opportunities

– Establish key links to data sets and services on our ILWS WWW pages